The Papers of John Marshall: Vol XII: Correspondence, Papers, and Selected Judicial Opinions, January 1831-July 1835, with Addendum, June 1783-January ... and the University of North Carolina Press)

The Papers of John Marshall #12

by John Marshall

This twelfth volume of The Papers of John Marshall concludes the first scholarly annotated edition of the correspondence and papers of the great statesman and jurist. In providing an accessible documentary record of Marshall's life and legal career, this collection has become an invaluable scholarly resource for the study of American law and the Constitution in their formative stages.

Volume XII covers the final years of Marshall's life, from January 1831 to his death in July 1835. It also includes an addendum of documents (mostly letters) from 1783 to 1829 that came to light after publication of their appropriate chronological volumes. More of Marshall's correspondence survives from his last years than from any other period of his life. Nullification, the Cherokee cases, the bank bill, the election of 1832, the anti-Masonic movement, slavery, and African colonization are among the topics that prompted Marshall's comments and reflections. Family letters provide intimate details of Marshall's 1831 operation for the removal of bladder stones, his companionate marriage to "dearest Polly" (who died at the end of 1831), and his relationships with his children and grandchildren. Judicial opinions published here in full include Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831) and Worcester v. Georgia (1832). Major editorial notes set forth the background and circumstances of these celebrated cases.

656 pages, Hardcover

First published March 13, 2006

About the author

John Marshall was an American statesman and jurist who shaped American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court a center of power. Marshall was Chief Justice of the United States, serving from February 4, 1801, until his death in 1835. He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1799, to June 7, 1800, and, under President John Adams, was Secretary of State from June 6, 1800, to March 4, 1801. Marshall was from the Commonwealth of Virginia and a leader of the Federalist Party.

The longest serving Chief Justice in Supreme Court history, Marshall dominated the Court for over three decades (a term outliving his own Federalist Party) and played a significant role in the development of the American legal system. Most notably, he established that the courts are entitled to exercise judicial review, the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. Thus, Marshall has been credited with cementing the position of the judiciary as an independent and influential branch of government. Furthermore, Marshall made several important decisions relating to Federalism, shaping the balance of power between the federal government and the states during the early years of the republic. In particular, he repeatedly confirmed the supremacy of federal law over state law and supported an expansive reading of the enumerated powers.